As the use of technology expands in businesses and organizations, there is an increasing need for management personnel to effectively track and control the internal PC machine activity (environment) of company owned technology.
For example, a PC has an internal operating system (O/S), which is initiated at the time the PC “boots” from its internal hard drive. This O/S includes a series of hundreds of programs, which manage all third-party application (program) activity and all user activity. Every action (event), that an end user performs, creates an internal reaction (another event) internal to the O/S to carry out the user's request. Every action (event), that a third-party program initiates, creates an internal reaction (another event) internal to the O/S to carry out the program's request and at times, modifies the internal O/S environment (structure) of the computer unit.
One of the most critical aspects of a PC O/S and all third-party applications is the start-up phase of the O/S and all third party applications. This start-up phase includes critical files and/or registry entries, which are read by certain internal programs relative to the O/S and third-party applications, which guide the O/S and third-party applications as to what is “required” at the time of O/S “boot up” or third-party application (program) execution.
These critical files and registry entries are considered to be “soft tables”, which allow modification so that an O/S or third-party application can have their internal operating environment modified to fit the specific needs of the computer unit and end-user.
These critical files and registry entries are so flexible, that it is possible to initiate computer programs, unknown to the end-user, which can significantly modify, collect, report, initiate a task or destroy information on a computer unit.
The registry entries are those part of the O/S which defines and initiates a new program which can occur automatically without the knowledge of the user. The registry acts as a “guide” to the actual O/S. When certain defined elements of a program are written to specific parts of the registry, the O/S will start the program automatically without notification to the user.
Based on the technological advances of the Internet and the ability to automatically transfer data from one computer unit to another computer unit in a compressed format, it is possible to “disguise” programs in the form of common data, which initiates on a computer unit that modifies a critical O/S or third-party application start-up file or load to the registry, which in turn, initiates an unknown program which collects, reports, initiates a task or destroys information on a computer unit.
All these possibilities can occur, without the knowledge of the end-user or any individuals within a business or organization.
Accordingly, there is a need for a real-time tracking tool that would permit management to record, monitor and report the internal environment of each computer unit in an efficient, noninvasive manner. Furthermore, there is a need for a real-time tool to automatically “reverse” any unauthorized internal modifications and to report these modifications to management personnel within a business or organization.